China Ratchets Up Espionage War Against Taiwan – The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator

In recent months, the People’s Republic of China (China) has been ratcheting up espionage capabilities against the Republic of China (Taiwan). Meanwhile, China is increasing its threats on the island, with Taiwan responding in kind.

In March, a Chinese army spokesman threatened Taiwan by stating: “The more rampant ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists become, the tighter the noose around their necks and the sharper the sword hanging over their heads will be.” Days later, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te called China a “foreign hostile force,” and reinstated military courts disbanded in 2013 to prosecute espionage cases in the military. (RELATED: China’s Threat to Taiwan: Intentions and Capabilities)

According to Taiwan’s intelligence agency, the number of Chinese spy cases prosecuted by Taiwan has increased from 10 in 2022 to 48 in 2023 to 64 in 2024. Approximately 159 Taiwanese have been indicted for spying for China since 2020, 60 percent of whom were either active or retired military.

Taiwan’s National Security Board asserts that the fact that 46 of those indicted were commissioned officers, 27 were non-commissioned officers, and 22 were soldiers demonstrates that the CCP has penetrated every level of Taiwan’s military.

Several recent developments show just how compromised Taiwan may be.

This month:

• Taiwan sentenced an air force military couple to 47 and 57 years in prison for spying for China. The couple was part of Liu Sheng-shu’s six-officer-strong spy ring. Liu received between NT$200,000–700,000 (approximately US$6,162–21,567) from a Chinese shell company, and Liu in turn paid the officers between NT$30,000 and NT$100,000 (approximately US$924–3,081) for classified information on Taiwan’s military.
• Taiwan sentenced a naval officer to three years and 10 months in prison, and ordered him to return NT$7.72 million (US$233,317) in retirement pay for spying for China. The naval officer had attempted, at the behest of a Hong Kong businessman, to set up a spy ring in Taiwan.
• A former aide of Taiwan’s Foreign Minister has been “detained incommunicado” and accused of spying for China from 2018 through 2024. Other staffers accused of spying include a former consultant to the president and two already-detained former staffers in the ruling DPP party.
• News broke that a Chengdu-based contractor, Sichuan Dianke Network Security Technology Co., Ltd., with ties to China’s Ministry of Defense, is posing a “growing threat” by using “malicious mobile phone applications” to spy on Taiwanese who support independence, in addition to a host of other groups who oppose China. The threat assessment is according to the U.S., British, Australian, New Zealand, German, and Canadian cybersecurity and intelligence agencies. The Chinese contractor’s malware, named “BADBAZAAR” and “MOONSHINE, “ferret[s] sensitive information from mobile devices while also giving operators remote access to devices’ cameras, microphones, and location data.”

In March:

• Taiwan imprisoned four elite soldiers, three of whom were on the president’s security detail, for spying for China. They each face prison sentences ranging from five years and 10 months to seven years. The court alleges that the soldiers each received payments ranging from NT$260,000–660,000 (US$7,850–20,000) for taking pictures of sensitive information on their mobile phones.
• Taiwan alleged that one of its retired air force majors leaked classified information to China on Taiwan’s Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles and deployments. China allegedly paid the air force major over NT$1.5 million (US$45,509) for documentation on the missiles, and the major paid NT$200,000 (US$6,162) of those funds to an accomplice, an air force controller. Both men have confessed to their crimes, and their trial is ongoing.
• The U.S. Department of Justice brought charges against 12 Chinese nationals doing business under “an ostensibly private PRC company, Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd,” but which was directed by China to conduct malicious hacking towards Taiwan’s foreign ministry and Taiwanese think tanks. Additional targets of the group included the foreign ministries of South Korea, India, and Indonesia, as well as U.S.-based critics and dissidents of the PRC, a large religious organization in the United States, and U.S. federal and state government agencies, including the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
• Taiwan spotted 11 Chinese spy balloons within 24 hours near the island’s waters, which was the largest contingent of such balloons ever recorded. Additionally, Taiwan spotted six Chinese warships and five Chinese aircraft within that same timeframe. By March 19, China had sent 76 such balloons towards Taiwan in 2025, on track to break 2024’s figure of 147.

And in January, a retired lieutenant general was indicted for attempting to recruit armed Taiwanese military to assist China in an invasion of the island.

While little detail is known about the full capabilities of China, recent events suggest that China is waging a sophisticated espionage war against Taiwan involving cyberthreats, spy balloons, and multiple human assets deep within Taiwan’s military and political apparatus. It remains to be seen if Taiwan can field a sufficient deterrent to China’s malicious behaviors.

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